Jorge Barajas v. Gerald Janda

MEMORANDUM

Jorge Barajas appeals from the district court’s judgment dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition as untimely. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we affirm.

Barajas contends that he is entitled to equitable tolling of AEDPA’s statute of limitations on account of his attorney’s misconduct and prison lockdowns. We review de novo the dismissal of a section 2254 habeas petition on statute of limitations grounds. See Rasberry v. Garcia, 448 F.3d 1150, 1153 (9th Cir.2006). Bara-jas’s claim to tolling fails because he has not established that the alleged impediments were “extraordinary circumstances” that prevented timely filing of his federal petition. See Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631 , 130 S.Ct. 2549, 2562 , 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010). Instead, the record reflects that the cause of his late filing was his lack of legal knowledge, a circumstance that does not provide a basis for equitable tolling. See Rasberry, 448 F.3d at 1154 . Barajas’s claim to tolling also fails because he did not exercise reasonable diligence in pursuing his rights. See Lakey v. Hickman, 633 F.3d 782, 786-87 (9th Cir.2011).

Barajas next contends that he is entitled to invoke the…